With BioWare still working to get Dragon Age: Dreadwolf out the door hopefully at some point next year, Mass Effect fans are in the middle of one of the longest new game information droughts since the franchise began in 2007. So starved is the Mass Effect community of detail on what to expect from Mass Effect 5, or whatever BioWare ends up calling the game, that a single innocuous tweet published this week was enough to get fans going all over again.
“Anyone creating games with #MetaHumans in Unreal Engine 5?” asked Epic Games’ character technology director Chris Evans in a post on Twitter. “What are some challenges you would like us to tackle in future releases?”
Who should pop up to reply? Only Michael Gamble, project director and executive producer at BioWare working on the next Mass Effect game. Gamble tweeted a gif of fan-favorite Mass Effect party member Mordin, and that was enough to spark renewed excitement in the continuation of the series — even though Mass Effect 5 still feels years away.
— Michael Gamble (@GambleMike) October 17, 2023
What can we glean from this brief exchange? Mass Effect 5 seemingly uses Unreal Engine 5’s MetaHuman tech. This helps developers create 3D characters and models more quickly and easily than before, and the hope is Mass Effect 5’s characters will benefit from it.
It is, admittedly, not much to go on, but given where the Mass Effect community is at right now, anything will do. BioWare announced the next Mass Effect on N7 Day in November 2020, nearly three years ago, alongside the image below.
In November 2021, also for N7 Day, BioWare released a Mass Effect poster showing a ship touching down on a planet near a crater. Fans immediately noticed the crater resembled the Geth, a sentient AI species from the original trilogy.
You can also see four characters exiting the ship below, which could hint at the party size in the new game. We theorised the group exiting the ship could contain a Salarian, Turian, and Krogan from the first three games.
For N7 day in 2022, BioWare teased the next Mass Effect game with a piece of concept art that appeared to be of a mass relay being built or rebuilt.
Happy #N7Day from across the stars! ? We found this interesting footage you may want to ? a bit more closely.
— Mass Effect (@masseffect) November 7, 2022
Download in HD ⬇️https://t.co/gyydhuuT1e pic.twitter.com/h97zjH5C1G
Fans quickly deciphered the message hidden within, in which Liara T'Soni can be heard saying: "The Council will be furious! Although, they should know by now not to underestimate human defiance!"
Thank you to all the agents who decoded the footage. Here’s a clean transmission ? https://t.co/iADrTHnU6s pic.twitter.com/ALNBNNM05a
— Mass Effect (@masseffect) November 7, 2022
And that’s about all we have to go on. The drought is so deep that fans even now, nearly two years later, are still fussing over that poster, looking for clues. Mass Effect fans are also hoping for some sort of update this N7 day. Perhaps yet another tease is in order. But amid all the speculation we must remember that parent company EA eliminated 50 jobs at BioWare back in August, seven of whom are now suing the company for better severance.
When the layoffs were announced, BioWare General Manager Gary McKay said in a blog post that the cuts were part of a “long-term vision” to make the studio "more agile and more focused". He added that while BioWare was “committed” to supporting affected employees, including in regards to finding them placement elsewhere within the company, they would not be able to find new jobs for everyone.
McKay also insisted BioWare’s commitment to the fourth major Dragon Age game “remains steadfast,” while the next Mass Effect continued on in pre-production.
Until then, there's always MetaHumans to think about.
The idea of Metahuman possibly being used for the next ME is so exciting to me. I assume it'd work with humans and Asari (and maybe Quarians?) but I have wondered if it could work with less human looking aliens like Salarians, Turians, and so on.? It's such cool tech!
— baun (@baundiesel) October 17, 2023
— Greg Palmer (@greggypalmer) October 17, 2023
Not a single word yet so much was said ?
— McDookie Lips (@stroking_weinis) October 17, 2023
— Michael? (@infairtaste) October 17, 2023
And another crumb is given to mass effect youtubers across the world.
— Austin Collier (@HecticHivemind) October 17, 2023
— Dantics (@DanticsOfficial) October 17, 2023
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
